Kid appeal — Voice Male, Marvin Goldstein find inspiration in children's music

For Voice Male, it's always been about fun. It's been about making music, about providing uplifting entertainment, but it's also been about having fun — for themselves and their audiences.

"We're just normal guys who like to have fun and happen to sing," John Huff says.

"As entertainers, the thing we enjoy most is seeing people laugh," adds Mike Bearden. "We try to sing well enough not to be a distraction. We like to sing in key. But we also like to interact with our audience and fans."

It's a formula that has served them well over the past 14 years, as they have accumulated nine CDs filled with 120 songs, performed in a "venue list practically a mile long," and gathered up fans all over the place. Their "Jingles" Christmas albums have won national awards; they are multiple People's Choice award winners with the LDS Booksellers Association. They were recently honored as the 2008 Utah State University Young Alumni of the Year.

In fact, about the only area where they haven't been successful — quitting. As the six singers have gotten married and now have children — some 19 among them all — and a couple of guys have moved away, and they all have other day jobs, it gets harder. "We think we can't possible keep going," says Bearden.

"But by some miracle we do," adds Huff.

In addition to Bearden and Huff, the group is comprised of Phil Kesler, Richard McAllister, John Luthy and Mike Wilson. Their a cappella group was formed when they were all students at USU, mastermined by bass and vocal percussionist Luthy, who recruited other members of the LDS Institute Choir. Originally, there were nine members, but that quickly settled into the six who have carried on.

"We joke about how we gave our farewell concert tour in 1997," says Bearden, "but we can't seem to quit."

Their fans will be happy to know that Voice Male will hit the local concert circuit in December, and they also have a new CD to their credit — "Kid's Stuff."

"We've talked about doing kids' songs for years and years," says Huff. "We decided it was finally time."

However, they soon learned that deciding and doing were two different things. "We got the first two tracks done in March of 2007," he says. "Then the months began to flip by."

This summer Bearden gave them "the locker room speech." They realized that if they wanted to get it done, they had better get going. But even then, there were logistical problems. They would record some numbers and then send them off to Alabama, for Kesler to add his part, and then to South Carolina for Luthy to do his thing.

"Isn't technology wonderful?" they say.